Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Pledge of the Peacemaker
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The depths of the labyrinth. The heirs of two ducal houses were there, facing a monster that radiated malice toward them.
It was a monstrously large spider, dozens of meters in length.
But its strangeness was not merely due to its size.
Its legs were formed from human limbs, each several meters long, and its eyes were human faces.
Each face wore a bizarre expression of joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure, yet regardless of their expression, they all wept. They wept tears of blood.
A grotesque monster, as if a dozen human bodies had been dissected and reassembled into the shape of a a spider. This was no simple monster like an orc. It was a grotesque being, clearly unnatural even by this world's standards.
“Interesting.”
Mikhail Lancaster spoke, observing the creature.
“I've heard the tales connoisseurs tell of the Great Labyrinth in the Demon Lord's Domain.”
“The stories of the ancient demons, I presume.”
“Are the human bodies that make up this monster victims of their experiments?”
“Perhaps.”
“The storytellers claim the ancient demons are still waiting in the deepest parts of this labyrinth, biding their time.”
“I find it curious where you pick up such tales.”
Dale didn't answer. He didn't know everything about the Demon Lord's Domain either.
“But at the very least, human bodies don't just spring up from the labyrinth for no reason.”
One thing, however, was certain: the bodies forming the monster were undeniably human, though he didn't know where they came from or how they had been so horrifically fused.
Four pairs of spider eyes—the human faces that formed them—were staring this way.
Each weeping, laughing, raging, or grieving, yet all shedding tears of blood.
“...Once the succession dispute against House Yorke is settled, my family, Archducal House Lancaster, will spare no effort in pioneering the Demon Lord's Domain to fulfill our alliance with House Sachsen.”
Mikhail Lancaster said, adjusting his grip on the hilt of the Peacemaker.
He spoke of the great cause of the ‘Great Anti-Demon Alliance’ that would unite House Lancaster and House Sachsen.
“In other words, it wouldn't be impossible to delve into the deepest darkness of this labyrinth and the Demon Lord's Domain.”
“Your proposal, Lord Mikhail, will be considered favorably.”
It was an offer Dale had no reason to refuse.
“However...”
He paused. Accepting a deal and negotiating the practical details were two different matters.
“As I am currently beginning the pioneering project in the Demon Lord's Domain under the name ‘Viscount Sachsen,’ I trust you understand that I cannot leave my post immediately.”
“Ah, you need not worry about that.”
Mikhail smiled as if he had expected as much.
Things in this world rarely happen overnight. Preparing for war takes months, and even crossing the continent is like watching a snail crawl compared to 21st-century travel.
“Since we have joined hands in the name of the Great Anti-Demon Alliance, Viscount Sachsen, it is naturally my side that must show good faith first.”
“What do you mean?”
“While Marquis Yorke rallies his allies, my father will be gathering the allies of Archducal House Lancaster and preparing to face them. That will surely take a considerable amount of time.”
War never breaks out in a day, especially not a conflict between great lords like the Archduke Lancaster and Marquis Yorke.
“When the time comes, my father has arranged to send an envoy here to the Demon Lord's Domain.”
Mikhail explained.
“Until then, I will devote my efforts here to pioneering the northern Demon Lord's Domain, just as you, ‘Viscount Sachsen,’ wish.”
He said it as if he had no interest in the priceless artifacts one might find in the labyrinth.
“I pledge to wield my sword not only to conquer the labyrinth but also to protect the lands of the pioneer farmers and fight the demons that threaten this territory.”
“...And for what purpose?”
“For the peace of us all.”
Mikhail Lancaster smiled. *For the peace of us all.* Dale remained silent.
At that moment, the ‘monster spider’ made of human bodies lunged at them. It was an impossibly fast charge, like that of a jumping spider. It was fast.
But as the spider charged, a red-and-white aura enveloped Mikhail Lancaster.
Mikhail Lancaster's Avatar, the ‘Armor of Ideals,’ symbolizing the Apostle of Fire and Light.
It illuminated the world like the sun, and at the same time, destructive flames raged with a heat comparable to the sun itself.
The light of dawn, piercing the twilight, coiled around the blade of the Peacemaker. Gripping that very ‘Peacemaker,’ Mikhail Lancaster charged forward.
*‘Avatars like that are quite convenient.’*
An ideal manifested in the form of armor.
When a mage deploys a world of ideals, it signifies a disconnect from this world. Unlike that world, which directly reveals their psyche, a knight's is relatively less constrained. Except for cases as vile as the Holy Sword Master.
Simply put, it meant they could unleash their full power with less burden than a mage.
The Apostle of Fire and Light swung the ‘Peacemaker,’ and the human bodies that made up the monster spider were torn to shreds.
The human faces that served as the spider's four pairs of eyes broke from their expressions and let out a unified, agonized scream.
“...!”
Then, a pure white flame erupted.
An explosion of light like the sun's corona. Dale could instinctively grasp the nature of that impossible heat.
The corona that surrounds the sun is a layer of plasma that emanates around celestial bodies, including the sun.
*‘Plasma...’*
A collection of particles composed of ion cores and free electrons, created by heating a gaseous substance.
As the Apostle of Fire and Light, it was an overwhelming destructive power that lived up to the name.
The plasma sword wind swept through, and nothing remained. Not even a handful of ash was left to scatter. In the face of that heat, even the ‘magic stone’ the monster should have dropped was no exception.
“Ah, dear me.”
Mikhail Lancaster deactivated his Avatar and gave a slightly embarrassed smile.
But even the blue flames emanating from Mikhail could not illuminate the shadows cast beneath the hood of <>.
“...”
From within the unfathomable shadows, Dale could only remain silent, imagining the day that plasma sword wind might be turned against him.
Mikhail Lancaster was strong. And yet, even a warrior of his caliber was no match for the Seven Swords of the Continent.
He was said to be the closest to their level. In other words, even Mikhail could not reach the Seven Swords.
The world was vast, and powerful people were many.
Mountains that even Dale, hailed as the Empire's greatest genius, could not yet overcome. But their existence did not bring him despair. Rather, they were the fuel that ignited a fire in his heart.
* * *
The anti-demon alliance between House Lancaster and House Sachsen.
But it was still too early to announce it officially. The moment the news broke, Marquis Yorke would feel threatened and make a move.
Therefore, Mikhail Lancaster acted purely as an ‘ordinary adventurer,’ wielding his sword for the peace of the Demon Lord's Domain.
Secretly, he became an ‘emissary of peace,’ protecting and pioneering the domain according to Viscount Sachsen's will.
An Aura Master, a knight capable of using an Avatar, possessed power equivalent to an entire army.
A one-man army.
Having that one-man army wielding his sword for the peace of the Demon Lord's Domain was an incredibly reliable asset for Dale.
For the demons who avoided direct confrontation with Sachsen's forces and used guerrilla tactics to attack pioneer farmers, the existence of ‘Mikhail Lancaster’ must have been a living hell.
The demons didn't have some grand ideology about plunging the world into evil. Their raids and pillaging of farmsteads were nothing more than a struggle for survival. But Dale's pioneering project was also a ‘struggle for survival’—to cultivate even one more crop from Sachsen's frozen lands and give the people of the duchy a place to live.
Demons and humans. A conflict for survival between two forces that could not coexist.
That was the truth of pioneering the Demon Lord's Domain. Yet, even now, many in the domain held the unwavering belief that they were fighting against evil to cultivate the goddess's land. A considerable number of pioneer monks, armed with their religious faith, were tilling the frozen soil in defiance of the demonic threat, and Dale had no intention of disabusing them of their beliefs.
Belief darkens one's vision, yet it also instills unwavering resolve.
Even if that belief is twisted and contorted.
* * *
“Ah, Catherine! My Catherine!”
“Hehe, honestly, Lord Phillip...”
Phillip the lecher smiled, acting as if he were at a loss before a lovely woman.
The scoundrel of a count's family, a genius of defeat, the son of the Holy Sword Master with the most disgraceful name on the entire continent.
But the smile ‘Catherine of Yorke’ gave Phillip was incomparably pure and beautiful.
“Even if the whole world points their fingers at you, Lord Phillip...”
Catherine's hand gently caressed Phillip's cheek. Bringing her lips close to his ear, she whispered.
“I know. That you, Lord Phillip, will one day stand tall as a hero of this Empire.”
“Ah, you are right!”
Catherine's voice was as sweet as the whisper of a holy mother, and in the face of her affection, Phillip couldn't hide the surge of emotion welling up inside him.
“I can see it. The ‘true worth’ of Lord Phillip that others fail to see.”
Her smile was not the cheap smile of the harlots Phillip had known. Her whisper, too, was far from their honeyed flattery.
It was a sweet, genuine voice that whispered to the deepest part of his heart.
“Ah, Catherine! My love, my fiancée!”
Unable to contain his affection, Phillip embraced Catherine. But it was not an act driven by desire. Belying his name as a lecher, he handled her with a delicacy as if she were the most precious being in the world.
“So, my dear husband-to-be, please do not betray my expectations.”
Catherine, nestled in Phillip's arms, whispered softly in his ear.
Her previous smile vanished as if it had been a lie, replaced by an icy, emotionless expression.